Lincoln was great target at Fort Stevens,
but Union surgeon was one to suffer

Making a positive out of a negative isn’t easy.

But that’s something Confederate Lt. Gen. Jubal Early did following the July 11-12, 1864 Battle of Fort Stevens.

After failing to earn victory, Early turned to one of his officers and remarked, “Major, we didn’t take Washington, but we scared Abe Lincoln like hell.”

President Lincoln, his wife, Mary, and some officers rode from the White House to observe the hostilities at the fort, which was located in the northwest area of what is now the District of Columbia.

The 6-foot-4 president, wearing his stovepipe hat, stood on a fort parapet with a Union surgeon, apparently unaware that he made a great target. Early’s sharpshooters, however, recognized the opportunity and opened fire. The surgeon was wounded and Lincoln quickly was removed from possible harm.

Who saved the President?

According to differing accounts, at least four individuals were credited with his salvation. Union Gen. Horatio Wright was so named as was Union Capt. and future Supreme Court Justice Oliver Wendell Holms, Pvt. John Bedient, and Elizabeth Thomas, who owned the property where the fort was constructed.

Also, there were claims that other privates from the Ohio National Guard were involved.

Gen. Wright had warned Lincoln not to expose himself to enemy fire, but after the President continued to stand, he finally ordered him “to sit down!” Wright said the President smiled and stepped down, but would persist in continuing to stand.

When the surgeon was shot, Holmes, reportedly, gave the President a precise order:  “Get down, you damn fool!”

Early was dispatched to Washington City by Gen. Robert E. Lee with orders to clear the Shenandoah Valley of Union troops and, if practical, invade Maryland, disrupt the Baltimore and Ohio Railroad and threaten Washington.

The hope was that a movement into Maryland would force Union Lt. Gen. Ulysses S. Grant to send troops to defend the district against the threat, thus reducing his strength to take the Confederate capital in Richmond, Va.

Although Early created much concern for the Union, reinforcements under Wright and the strong defenses of Fort Stevens minimized the military threat and Early withdrew after two days of skirmishing without attempting any serious assaults.

Washington’s defenses involved a number of Union generals who had been relieved of command in major theaters of the war or who were incapacitated for field command due to wounds or disease. It was a case of too many chiefs and not enough Indians.

McCook tried to sort out the problem of too many high-ranking generals, but was unable to rid himself of the leaders and their attempts to gain leverage over one another. However, a somewhat workable command structure was established.

With McCook in overall command, Gen. Quincy Gillmore commanded the northeast line of fortresses (Fort Lincoln to Fort Totten), Gen. Montgomery Meigs commanded the northern line of forts (Fort Totten to Fort DeRussy – including Fort Stevens) and Gen. Christopher Augur’s First Division commander, Martin D. Hardin, commanded the northwest line of forts (Fort DeRussy to Fort Sumner).

Wright and the VI Corps were initially to be held in reserve, but McCook immediately decided against this as he felt veteran troops needed to take the front lines against Early’s troops. As it was, Hardin’s troops engaged in some light skirmishing, but as McCook intended, it was to be Wright’s veterans who bore the brunt of the fighting.

Fort Stevens is now maintained by the National Park Service under the administration of Rock Creek Park. The fort is located near 13th Street NW between Rittenhouse and Quackenbos Streets NW and is the only part of the battlefield currently preserved.

The Lincoln incident is said to be the only time in American history in which a sitting president came under direct fire from an enemy combatant.